Hepburn grid owners warned to watch meters

A DAYLESFORD woman was short-changed $3500 by Red Energy, after her home solar panel system was incorrectly installed by Powercor.

Anneke Deutsch is urging anyone with a solar grid to check the amount of kilowatts returned on their smart meter against the amount renumerated in bills.

Ms Deutsch had a five kilowatt solar array and smart metre installed by Powercor at her Daylesford home over a year ago.

She expected to receive $3500 a year in credits on the unit, which supplies 20 kilowatts of power on average per day.

But when her first bills came and she only received $100 back, she brought it to the attention of Red Energy who dismissed her claims. “They initially dismissed me and said it wasn’t very sunny in Daylesford and things like that,” she said. She then looked on the smart meter and the amount of kilowatts credited on the bill was 10 per cent of what was on the meter.

“I had got back $300 instead of $3000,” she said.

Red Energy said the download data from the smart meter was incorrect and she would have to follow it up with Powercor.

After two months of hassling Powercor, the company finally reimbursed Ms Deutsch $3500.

“The multiplier effect was wrong and the meter had been set up incorrectly by Powercor,” she said.

Ms Deutsch wanted other solar grid owners to be aware.

“I’m just worried about how many others are out there aren’t getting paid what they should,” she said.

A spokesman from Powercor said the disreptancy was caused by human error on installation and the bill was rectified once the problem had been confirmed.

BE AWARE: Anneke Deutsch, right, with her solar panels and installer David Grigg. Picture: CONTRIBUTED